City No. 2 in nation for black-owned businesses

Author, speaker, coach and entrepreneur Tasha M. Scott is bringing her business, Scott Realtime Reporting LLC, to a new location in east Montgomery at Park Place Center, 8650 Minnie Brown Road. A new study from financial advisory site NerdWallet found the Montgomery area is the second-best place in the nation for black-owned businesses.(Photo: SHANNON HEUPEL / ADVERTISER)Buy Photo

Tasha Scott felt she had hit a wall a few years ago after starting her fledgling, home-based court reporting and transcription service in Montgomery. So she reached out to another local black businessperson for help and eventually joined an incubator program that offered her more connections, mentoring and exposure.

"They opened up a whole new world to me in terms of the growth of my business," Scott said. "There were some things I had done right, but there were some things I overlooked."

After five straight years of growth, she's now moving into her own office in east Montgomery. It includes a training room for the second business she's started as a speaker and coach.

The study considered unemployment rate, cost of living and more, but it was a strong support network of mentors and role models that helped vault Montgomery up the list of major metro areas. The study found that nearly a third of Montgomery-area businesses are now black-owned, and that the city had the fastest-growing black population of the 111 U.S. metro areas that made the list.

"One of the biggest things that we hear time and time again are the importance of mentorship," study author Cindy Yang said. "It's important to have that support from that kind of community."

Yang said the numbers point to a low level of franchises and chains, and a high level of independent entrepreneurship here.

"That makes Montgomery unique among the top 10," she said. "These are truly local, small businesses."

Changing times

That environment is a big change from a few decades ago.

When Denver native Stacia Robinson left the Air Force in 1991, she said a friend cautioned her about setting up shop here.

"One of them told me that if they were me, if they were black or female, they wouldn't start a business here," Robinson said.

Still, she opened her business and joined the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce at a time when less than 1 percent of the members were black. Robinson said the city of Montgomery became the biggest client for her employee benefits company after Bobby Bright became mayor.

"That would not have been the case when I started," she said.

While admitting that she was surprised by the area's lofty ranking in the study, Robinson said she welcomes signs of progress. Her business now stretches from Montgomery to Columbus, Ga., which ranked No. 1 in the report, and Robinson has become an advocate for the opportunities here.

When Scott needed help, one of the people she reached out to was Doug Jones at the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Resource Center. Jones is retiring this spring. His successor said last week that new outreach programs and progress over the years have helped minority business owners feel more like they're a key part of the city.

"Diversity is being asked to come to a dance. Inclusion is being asked to dance," said Ron Simmons, the Chamber's incoming vice president of business services. "The more you become a part of a community, the more you have ownership. You want things to grow because you have some value. That's something we're beginning to see. Hopefully we can continue to move that along.

"One of the things I'm excited about is how Montgomery is embracing the changes in the city."

Scott and others also credited the Small Business Development Center at Alabama State University, which serves as a clearinghouse for information, resources and connections.

Like NerdWallet's Yang, SBDC Director Lorenza Patrick praised the growing support system of area leaders and entrepreneurs as key to the changes happening here.

"There are other people in play now that 30 years ago weren't in play," Patrick said. "They bring smarts that the old guard didn't have. These are some changing times."

Work is underway on Scott's new building, which she hopes to move into this week. Meanwhile, she's quick to credit a long list of people who helped her along the way.